Promises
by veroniquemagique
Summary: Frankie likes to have Grace make "promises", and Grace realizes why she's more than happy to oblige.


"Promise?" Frankie asked. She bit her lip and looked up at Grace expectantly. Grace laughed and took her roommate's soft, warm face in her hands. Her face was always so comforting to the touch, even if the action was meant to comfort her, and not the other way around. When had she began to notice that about Frankie's face? She couldn't recall, but it left her with a strange feeling.

Without much thought, Grace leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on Frankie's forehead. Even though the simple little action had become more and more common lately, it still left Grace's lips tingling as she pulled away.

It was beginning to matter less and less what Frankie was making her promise, and it felt like anything that even sounded like a declaration was eligible. Grace couldn't quite imagine why Frankie was doing this, as she seemed to be calming down since Frankie had decided to stay and not go with Jacob to New Mexico. At first she thought the gesture was a cute little way for Frankie to feel better about the bittersweet end of the first relationship she had since Sol, but it was making less sense as time progressed and she seemed to be moving on and letting life go on as it had before.

She remembered when Frankie had first brought up her preferred "metaphorical bonding of trust", as she had put it. Grace was skeptical, but after she tried it and saw how much it made Frankie's face beam with happiness, she was willing to do it for her every now and then should the occasion arise. It made her feel warm inside to see Frankie's smile knowing that she had brought it to her face. After how miserably she had treated her now-best friend over the years, and how much she had been through with the dissolution of her marriage, Grace felt personally responsible for making sure that Frankie was as happy as she could be. It pained her to see such a caring woman with such a big heart hurting herself. That just showed how close their friendship had become, right?

Honestly, Grace had come to anticipate these "promises", and woke up every day wondering whether or not she would get to kiss Frankie's forehead and make her feel happy again that day. That was normal for a best friend, she was sure. Best friends shared intimate little gestures like that every now and then, didn't they? Then again, this was becoming more than every now and then. This was now a regular occurrence, and while this didn't upset Grace, it did plant some mild panic and intense confusion deep in her heart.

More and more, when she would see Frankie dance around the house, hear her sing nonsensical little tunes when she brought her a snack in the studio, and get enamored by whatever new special was currently offered at Del Taco, Grace would feel a tight feeling in her chest. The first few times she noticed it, she thought she might be having a heart attack, but when it kept happening, she knew it wasn't that. Although Frankie had been trying to drag her – sometimes kicking and screaming - out of her shell, Grace resorted to her old tactics of shoving these strange but intense feelings deep down inside of her, but that didn't stop them. It was getting to the point that the twist her stomach and flutter in her chest when she pressed her lips to Frankie's forehead for a "promise" couldn't be ignored.

Grace decided that enough both was enough and wasn't enough. Being happy "enough" wasn't enough for her anymore – she deserved to be happy too, dammit – but she had also had enough of denying what had been growing inside her for the past two years. What she saw in her and Frankie's ex-husbands she envied more than anything. She wanted that same happiness out of life, and nothing or nobody in Grace's life had come to make her happier than Frankie Bergstein.

So the next time that beautiful, warm woman asked Grace to "promise" her something – she didn't even really remember what it was she had said to warrant it – she decided to take a chance and go for that happiness. She took hold of Frankie's face with a little more confidence than usual and pulled her close, pressing her lips against Frankie's this time.

She felt Frankie tense, and was about to pull away, thinking she had misunderstood and upset her, but Frankie relaxed and as she leaned back into the kiss, wrapped her arms around Grace's waist. They stayed close in that tender and meaningful kiss that had been, in Grace's opinion, long coming until air escaped them and they needed to break way for breath.

"Promise," Grace said, smiling at Frankie and watching one break out wide back at her. Every beautiful little wrinkle on her face glowed with happiness and it made Grace's heart swell.

"Took you long enough to take a hint," Frankie laughed. Grace faked a scoff and fell into the laughter with her. She let her hands fall around Frankie's shoulders and pressed her forehead against Frankie's.

"I love you, Grace," she added after a moment of silent and knowing gazing at each other as they stood there in each other's arms. Grace bit her lip and her smile widened.

"I love you too," she replied, tugging Frankie a little bit closer to her, never wanting to let her go now that she had her. Frankie's lips tugged up into a mischievous smirk.

"Is that a promise?" Frankie asked. Grace looked at her with the exact look the silly question warranted.

"That makes no sense," she said. Frankie looked at her expectantly, and she let out a happy little sigh. "Fine, I promise."

Grace leaned in and kissed Frankie once more, and she had never felt more at peace than she did in that moment. Frankie was her happiness, and she couldn't possibly be happier.


End file.
